This is the way we wash the truck...

Last weekend it wasn't quite so hot, so my youngest and I spent a couple of hours washing a truck, a van, and two cars (vehicles from two families). We only had one sponge, and by the time we got done it was pretty much shot. I'm going to have to go to the dollar store and buy a couple of sponges, but it's still a lot cheaper than even the do-it-yourself car wash. Since I'm still looking for a job, cheap is good!

A homestead truck hardly ever gets washed and this one was definitely due for it. Adam actually enjoyed helping, too. Why is that the younger the kids are, the more they actually want to help?

The new school year begins

We started the new school year about three weeks ago. I'm not sure how I am going to homeschool once I find a job, and I'm pretty worried about it. But I believe this is in God's plans for my family, so it will work out.

The first week was fun - opening up new books and starting new courses. But now the newness has worn off and the complaining has started. It's like that every year - the first week is fun and new, the next two or three weeks are drudgery as it sets in that school is hard work, and then everything evens out and school becomes the norm.

It's a little harder for us this year because of all the recent changes in our lives. The hardest change as far as school is concerned is that the family we are living with has a toddler (he just turned three this month). Not just any toddler, but a somewhat wild one. We get up much earlier than the other family so we can have some time for school before the toddler wakes up. But once he is up... it gets harder. My family is used to having the house quiet and focusing solely on school during school hours. Now we have to get used to schooling with a screaming toddler and televisions in the background. Still, I am grateful that Nancy's family took us in during our time of need. I don't know many people who would have done that and I'm certain that having our family invade their laid-back lifestyle hasn't been easy on them, either.

Adults just want to have fun, too

Yes, even adults can have fun sometimes. That's me you see in mid-air. Nancy's husband, Ronnie, and I had a great time acting like little kids and jumping on the trampoline. It was good exercise, too. We do, however, realize how old and out of shape we actually are when we become worn out after only a few minutes. We had to lay there and recover for a few minutes before we could even roll ourselves off the trampoline and limp inside.

The joy of tame chickens

Nancy, left, and I, throw some stale bread out for the chickens to snack on.

There are some big differences between the city and the country. One of the big differences is that the chickens can free range out here. There's somewhere around 25 chickens (or more) at my friends place where we are currently living. More than half of them were mine before we had to move, and my friend and I have both raised our chickens like outdoor pets. They are very tame, and are used to people.

I walk outside and am greeted by the cat and one of the chickens.

This means the chickens love to greet people. When you pull up and step out of your car, you're greeted by chickens. When you step out the back door, you're greeted by chickens. When you sit at the kitchen table to eat, there's always a chicken or two pressing their beaks against the glass of the French doors and being nosy. And don't even think about walking outside with a snack in your hand - you'll not only be "greeted" by chickens, you'll be accosted by them. It's kind of nice, and I really enjoy the chickens. The only bad points to this are that the chickens want to eat my flowers in the pots I placed outside and, because they like to come up onto the back porch, they also end up pooping there occasionally.

The chickens like to gather at the back door and watch the people in the house.

This chicken has a blackened face from digging in the burning barrel.